Method for packaging in a container a product containing different miscible ingredients

ABSTRACT

The method of packaging a receptacle ( 2 ) with a product comprising different miscible ingredients comprises the steps of filling the receptacles ( 2 ) in part with a first portion of the ingredients in a first filling unit ( 4 ) comprising a series of filling stations ( 5 ), of transferring the receptacles to at least one second filling unit likewise comprising a series of filling stations ( 9 ), and of successively finishing off the filling of the receptacles with the remainder of the ingredients.

The present invention relates to a method of packaging a receptacle witha product comprising different miscible ingredients.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Filling installations are known, for example installations using rotarycarrousels that comprise a feed vessel associated with a series offilling stations. When a product comprising a mixture of differentmiscible ingredients is to be introduced into the receptacles, themixture is initially prepared with all of its ingredients and it isintroduced into the feed vessel prior to putting the fillinginstallation into operation. Such a packaging method is satisfactorywhen a very large number of receptacles are to be filled with a productof constant composition, and when the total volume of the filledreceptacles corresponds substantially to the content of the feed vessel.

Nevertheless, when it is desired to change the composition of theproduct to be packaged, for example when it is desired to switch frompackaging a whole milk to a semi-skimmed milk or a skimmed milk, or whenpackaging a product in which the properties vary as a function of thedifferent ingredients mixed together, it is necessary initially tocalculate the quantity of product that is to be introduced into the feedvessel of the installation as a function of receptacles that are to befilled, and then to clean the feed vessel and fill it with the newproduct that is to be packaged.

This gives rise to a significant loss of time every time the product ischanged, so it is not economically conceivable to package differentproducts in short runs, each comprising a small number of receptacles.When batches comprising receptacles containing different products needto be prepared, it is therefore necessary to package each product in along run of receptacles which are stored and which must subsequently behandled so as to make up different batches. Those various operationssignificantly increase the overall cost of packaging.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,211 discloses a machine for making up paint to acolor on demand, starting from a base tint. That machine has a singlefilling station and it is necessary to store pots containing the variousbase tints. That machine is therefore not suitable for quickly making upbatches of pots of respective particular compositions.

Patent documents Nos. GB 2 178 015 and EP 0 853 041 disclose aninstallation comprising two filling machines interconnected by atransfer device. Nevertheless, that installation is not intended formixing different ingredients but for packaging a single substance thattends to foam, with filling in two stages being provided merely to allowthe foam to collapse prior to finishing off filling. Those documentscontain no hint suggesting the use of a similar installation forpackaging products of various compositions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides a method of packaging receptacles with a productcomprising different miscible ingredients, the method comprising thesteps of filling receptacles partially with a portion of the ingredientsin a first filling unit comprising a series of filling stations, oftransferring the receptacles to at least one second filling unitlikewise comprising a series of filling stations, and of successivelyfinishing off filling of the receptacles with the remainder of theingredients.

Thus, merely by modifying the proportions of the ingredients introducedinto a receptacle at each of the filling units, and without it beingnecessary to modify the composition of the substance in the fillingvessel in each filling unit, it is possible to obtain at the outlet fromthe installation receptacles that contain products with variouscompositions. In particular, when packaging milk, it suffices to providetwo filling units, with the feed vessel of one of them containing wholemilk while the feed vessel of the other filling unit contains skimmedmilk, thus enabling batches of bottles to be made up comprising bottlesthat contain whole milk, bottles that contain semi-skimmed milk, andbottles that contain skimmed milk.

In an advantageous version of the method of the invention, theingredients introduced into a receptacle in each filling unit aredetermined to correspond with the receptacle, e.g. by reading a codecarried by the receptacle. Each receptacle thus automatically receivesthe various ingredients for making up the composition specified for thatreceptacle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear onreading the following description of an implementation of the method ofthe invention given with reference to the sole accompanying FIGURE whichis a diagrammatic view of an installation enabling the method of theinvention to be implemented.

MORE DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to the FIGURE, the installation shown comprises an inletconveyor 1 conveying receptacles to a transfer device 3 serving tointroduce the receptacles 2 successively into a first filling unit 4comprising a series of filling stations 5 connected by pipes 6 to a feedvessel 7.

At the outlet from the first filling station 7, the receptacles aretaken up by a transfer device 8 which introduces them into a fillingstation 9 of a second filling unit 10 likewise comprising a series offilling stations 9 which are connected by pipes 11 to a feed vessel 12.At the outlet from the second filling unit, the receptacles 2 are takenup by a transfer device 13 which takes them to a conveyor 14 so as tobring them to the following workstation, for example a closing stationor a wrapping station.

The installation shown also has a sensor 15 placed facing thereceptacles at the moment they are introduced by the transfer device 3into the first filling unit 4. The sensor 15 is connected to a controlunit 16 which controls the quantity of the ingredients introduced intothe receptacle in each filling station, as represented by the arrowsdrawn as pairs of fine lines.

When a receptacle 2 is introduced into the first filling unit, thesensor 15 detects a code carried by the receptacle, for example it readsa bar code, and it transmits the code to the control unit 16 which alsoreceives in conventional manner information concerning the order numberof the filling station 5 that is to receive the receptacle. The controlunit 16 thus establishes correspondence between a receptacle and thefilling station in which the receptacle is introduced. The code carriedby the receptacle is representative of the composition that thereceptacle is to receive, and the control unit is thus in a position toensure that the required quantities of each substance contained in thefeed vessels of the various filling units are introduced. For example,when packaging milk, it is possible to provide for the feed vessel 7 ofthe first filling unit 4 to contain skimmed milk while the feed vessel12 of the second filling unit 10 contains whole milk. When the codecorresponding to semi-skimmed milk is detected by the sensor 15, thenthe control unit 13 causes the receptacle to be half-filled only in thefilling station corresponding to the first filling unit 4, with theremainder being filled in the filling station corresponding thereto inthe second filling unit 10.

In this context, it should be observed that the correspondenceestablished initially between a receptacle 2 and a filling station 5 inthe first filling unit 4 is translated automatically on transfer via thetransfer device 8 into correspondence between the same receptacle and afilling station 9 in the second filling unit 10.

If the bar code carried by the receptacle corresponds to skimmed milk,then the receptacle is completely filled in the first filling unit 4. Incontrast, if the bar code corresponds to whole milk, then the receptaclereceives nothing as it passes through the first filling unit 4 and it iscompletely filled as it passes through the second filling unit 10.

It will be observed that this makes it possible to make up batchescontaining desired numbers of receptacles for each of the compositionsthat can be provided by means of the installation. It is thus possibleto make up directly batches that match an order from a client, forexample a retailer, such that at the outlet from the fillinginstallation batches can be made up directly for shipping purposes.

Naturally, the invention is not limited to the implementation described,and variant implementations can be applied thereto without going beyondthe ambit of the invention as defined by the claims. In particular,although the invention is illustrated with respect to an implementationin which correspondence is established between a receptacle and thefilling station on which it is filled by reading a bar code, it ispossible to implement the method of the invention by programming thecontrol unit 16 directly so as to fill a determined number ofreceptacles with a given composition and then change the composition andfill a new series of receptacles.

Although the embodiment of the installation shown has only two fillingunits, it is possible to adapt the number of filling units to the numberof different compositions that it is desired to make from differentingredients without it being necessary to modify the nature of thesubstances contained in the various feed vessels. For this purpose, eachfeed vessel may contain either a single ingredient or a mixture ofingredients, providing the mixture is common to the variouscompositions. The receptacles are transferred to the various stationscorresponding to the elements needed to make up a required composition,thus making it possible to finish off the filling of the receptacleswith the remaining ingredients in succession.

When the receptacles carry a bar code but do not have a privilegedorientation at the moment they are loaded into the filling station, itis possible to provide a plurality of sensors in order to be sure thatthe bar codes can be read regardless of the orientation of thereceptacle.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of packaging a liquid product comprisingdifferent miscible ingredients into receptacles (2) by using a fillinginstallation comprising at least two filling units (4, 10) of the liquidproduct, the method comprising the steps of simultaneously fillingvarious receptacles (2) in part with a first portion of the ingredientsin a first filling unit (4) comprising a series of filling stations (5),of transferring the receptacles to corresponding filling stations (9) ofat least one second filling unit (10), and thereafter simultaneouslyfinishing off the filling of the various receptacles with the remainderof the ingredients.
 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein theingredients introduced in each filling unit are determined incorrespondence with the receptacle.
 3. A method according to claim 2,wherein the correspondence with the receptacle is established bydetecting a code carried by the receptacle (2).